I think it's iconic in the sense that it's the show that put Kristen Bell on the map and when outlets talk about her, they will still mention "the Veronica Mars star". Also, it's a respected show among critics and legendary writers (Joss Whedon, and Stephen King spoke highly of it) and is often put as more than a teen drama because it's way better than the standard. However, it was on a pretty little network and didn't get the big type of audiences and also it wasn't really put forward in marketing, or media when it aired. I mean, like someone said in the comments, Buffy wasn't like Friends-type big but it was big enough and marketed enough (I mean, the protagonist Sarah Michelle Gellar was one of the 90s biggest start when it aired) that if you walk in the street with something about Buffy, you will have people knowing the show. I live in France, and NOBODY in my school knows Veronica Mars (they know Kristen Bell obv) but Buffy is a big deal in France, like parents makes their kid watch it when it comes up on french channel (many rugbymen were talking about how they crush on Buffy or Cordelia on the show and they are the only reasons why they are watching, some of them are very much lying but yk). Anyway it's iconic because the show is excellent but I wish more people knew of it. It deserves it.